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Sri Lanka will build record high artificial Christmas tree

A construction worker of the Sri Lankan Ministry of Ports and Shipping works on a huge Christmas tree in an attempt to construct the world's tallest Christmas tree, in Colombo, Sri Lanka. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte

Sri Lanka hopes to set up a nearly 100 meter high artificial Christmas tree in July But despite the valiant efforts of hundreds of port workers and volunteers, jokes are being made about the project.

The enormous tree will be erected on a boardwalk in the capital Colombo, but the organizers are now notifying that they would be lucky if the 98-meter high steel structure is in place before Christmas.

The idea is that the tree must beat the old record for artificial Christmas trees over 40 meters, while it should help promote reconciliation between the country’s various ethnic and religious groups.

– This is just to show the world that we can live as one country, one nation, said the former cricket player Arjuna Rana Tunga, who is now the country’s port and shipping minister.

The majority of Sri Lanka’s population are Buddhists, but the island’s Christian and Muslim minorities feel discriminated against by authorities who are also accused of continued violations against the Tamil minority.

It is now over seven years since the Tamil LTTE guerrillas were crushed in a large-scale government offensive northeast of the island in spring 2009, many Tamils were interned in camps, while others disappeared.

Since President Maithripala Sirisena came to power in 2015, the government has promised to work for openness and reconciliation, but it remains to fulfill many of the promises.

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